Cops Use Social Media To Bring Down 250-Member Gang

By Gene Ryan Briones on 12/13/2012

Oh, the untapped powers of social media. Cops in Bushwick, Brooklyn were able to bust a 250-member gang by using social media as a tool to create fake profiles while adding gang members to their “friends” list. Young gang members, according to New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, often use Facebook and Twitter to brag about their crimes or so-called accomplishments.

“Once again we have young gang members using social media to boast about murder and mayhem, and once again we have New York City Police officers ‘friending’ them to help end the violence. When young men plot to take their battles from tweets to the streets, the NYPD wants to be there to stop the bloodshed. The attention is paying off,” the commissioner said.

The TBO gang or True Bosses Only gang, a.k.a. Team Bang Out, was originally formed in 2003. The gang quickly grew in numbers. They did it by recruiting young members as early as age 12, forcing them to commit serious crimes in order to be accepted and to earn the gang’s trust.